One God - One FAith - One Church

The mission of bakersfield CATHOLIC is to provide relevant information about and for the Catholic community in Bakersfield by inspiring a greater love for Christ and His Church by living the Gospel in fellowship through the Sacraments and Scripture.

Catholicism in Bakersfield, California, is traced back to Padre Francisco Garces, a Franciscan missionary, who came here in 1776. St. Francis of Assisi Parish, the first permanent Catholic Church in the community, opened to serve the faithful in July 1881. Today, nine parishes and two missions tend to the spiritual needs of over 19,000 registered Catholic families in Bakersfield, comprising a part of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. The Catholic parishes in Bakersfield, CA, are part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno.